I am very disappointed in you, South Carolina.
— Frank Gantz (@fgantz) May 8, 2013
This was my tweet when I learned that South Carolina had elected Mark Sanford to Congress. Sanford is the former governor who resigned two years ago for disappearing into South America with his mistress. Not only was he guilty of infidelity but also of financial issues and of leaving the state without a chief executive. He confessed that he had “made a mistake.”
It seems that each generation of Christians has a focal point. That focal point or points involves much conversation however Christians gather. The churches talk about it. Preachers preach about it. Authors write about it. Conferences promote it.
It seems to me that the two current points of interest in evangelical Christianity are “the gospel” and adoption. Can anybody really count the number of books which have been published on the gospel in the past few years? One of the most recent organizations and conferences is called, The Gospel Coalition.
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
– In Christ Alone by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend
In my opinion, In Christ Alone is the best modern day hymn. It is rich in theological truth with a melodious tune. I listen to it often at home and become excited when I see that we are going to sing it together as a church during a worship service.
If you have not heard it, last year I posted a video of Kristyn Getty singing it during a worship service in San Diego. Listen carefully to the lyrics.
The quote at the beginning of this article is from the song. It is also the part of the song that caused a committee for a new Presbyterian hymnal to reject the inclusion of In Christ Alone.
One aspect of the modern church that most saddens and concerns me is that believers are no longer encouraged to have a healthy fear of God. We seem to assume that the fear of the Lord is something that belonged to the Old Testament period and is not to be a part of the life of the Christian. But fear of God involves not simply a trembling before His wrath, but a sense of reverence and awe because of His glorious holiness.
Is It Unspiritual to be Discouraged? by Sinclair Ferguson
From time to time over the centuries some Christians have taught, sometimes with tragic consequences, that a truly spiritual person never gets discouraged. To be cast down is, by definition, to be ‘unspiritual.’ Unless we are well-grounded in Scripture, it is very easy for us to be overwhelmed, confused, and even more discouraged by such teaching.
Bear with me. I have to get this off of my chest. If I see one more Christian trying to be overly clever with a tweet or comment by employing what I call the fallacy of negative comparisons, I think I will … point them to this article.
In an era of instantaneous communications, people are bound to speak without thinking. I have already written one article called The Fallacy of Similarity. That article is five years old, but still worth the read. Surely we can do better than give our opponents the logical high ground by avoiding these all to common mistakes.
So what is the Twitter Fallacy of Negative Comparisons? I have added the Twitter descriptor because I see this on that site so often. It is easy to make what sounds like a pithy statement in 140 characters or less. The negative comparison part concerns the logical argument presented in said tweets or in general conversation.
A great running back on a football team can become a major liability for his team. All he has to do is fumble the football. To prevent a back from becoming a fumbler, the coach teaches a 4-point contact rule. The back should hold the ball so that four points of his body are in contact with the ball – his hand, his forearm, his upper arm and his chest. Any missing contact point puts the ball at risk of being fumbled.
When opponents surround the back, the four points are not enough. At the point of engaging the opponents, the back should hold on to the ball with both hands and arms.
To drill this rule, the coach will the player run between two lines of people. Everybody in those lines will be attempting to poke the ball away from the back. If he loses any of his contact points, a fumble becomes a distinct possibility. For those backs who still have trouble, the coach might make them carry a football with them everywhere they go. The coach will repeatedly scream, “Hold on to the ball!” It is that important.
In marriage it is important that we husbands hold fast to our wives. Don’t let go! In the very beginning, God had this to say about the relationship between a husband and a wife;
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
(Genesis 2:24, ESV)
When speaking of marriage, Jesus (Matt 19:5) and Paul (Eph 5:31) both used this verse to teach the same truth. It is that important. But what does it mean to hold fast?
Over the past 23 years I have experienced a wide variety of worship gatherings within different denominations and theological perspectives, and one thing I have always found concerning is how little Scripture is used in corporate worship.
via Scripture in Worship — JOETHORN.net. (emphasis mine)
Frank Gantz - Christ follower living in Boynton Beach, Florida. Yes, that's the beach!
